Vapid Culture: Rants, Raves & Reviews

life is haaard in the OC…

Kimora Lee Simmons debuts the world’s tackiest clothing collection, ‘Fabulosity’. If only her taste level were as developed as her penchant for irony.

Bad things happen when people access too much money too fast.

Some gamble it all away, white-trash lottery-winner style.

Some buy overvalued homes, only to lose them 6 months later to foreclosure.

And then there are the most selfish, most socially irresponsible of all- those who use said funds to create multiples in their own name, littering the world with reminders of their bad judgment for generations still! And these lil’ monsters aint pretty. But they are pervasive… like the smell of rotten eggs, or the mug of Ryan Seacrest. Monsters as socially conscious as Ted Nugent and Kathy Lee Gifford’s would-be offspring… (Widespread child labor happening now! Airheaded denial statement by publicist to be issued shortly!)

Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado, it is my honor to present the most recent monster brainchild/brand of Kimora Lee Simmons, ex-wife of Russel Simmons. (And future Baby-Momma to Djimon Hounsou).

What, did you think I was bashing to the helpless offspring of Octomom, after all the poor woman has been through? Shame on you!

It is named “Fabulosity” and it is priced such that it may be consumed by the masses.

Notice the verbiage “most recent”?

Indeed, she has unleashed previous monsters brands upon us, which explains quite a lot.

Like why this particular one is so fugly.

The last major monster of consequence she birthed, Baby Phat, is comprised of some serious ugly (to quote the coolest Project Runway contestant ever, Laura Bennet). Meaning that she has quite a low point from which to jump off.

Now that she’s popping out a monster that will sell for half the price of BP, the only way to avoid undercutting Baby Phat is to make the newbie half as appealing.

Or twice as fug, as the case may be…

And, in fact, is.

If this was the goal, kudos to Kimora on a bang-up job!

How did she do it?!

I envision a cami-and-shorts dressed Kimora, hair-in-bun, glasses on, pen in hand, sitting cross-legged on her fabulous pink ruffled Dollywood-on-acid bed getup among a stack of Glamour magazines,  feverishly scanning the “do’s and don’ts” section of each issue for ideas. You know, the section where they black out the offenders’ eyes to protect their identities?

Which actually inspires me a little. Kimora, as you know, is every girl’s idol. And I certainly want to take my cues from her whenever possible. So I think, working backwards, that I’ll try to imagine WTF Kimora was thinking when she designed these outfits, in “don’t” form.

Except these clothes are so heinous–and taking people’s hard-earned recessionary dollars in return for swathing them in these clownsuits is so morally wrong… it’s time for veritible fashion martial law!
I only wish I were an officer for the fashion police so I could dutifully issue this citation, using said “don’ts” as specific violations:

  • FASHION VIOLATION#1: Indecent exposure 103.21: Display of 24-K Trump/Hussein-Style gold paint accessories (exceptionally tacky accessories per USFC 210.1)*
  • FASHION VIOLATION #2: Indecent exposure 103.21: Display of tone-on-tone clothing.**
  • FASHION VIOLATION #3: Indecent exposure 103.21: Display of universally unflattering jeans per USFC 215.3 (70’s throwbacks)
  • FASHION DON’T #4: Indecent exposure 103.21: Display of tacky iron-on style decal on a shirt.***
  • FASHION DON’T #5: Indecent exposure 103.21: Displaying knit clothing item with built-in hardware
  • FASHION DON’T #6: Indecent exposure 103.21: Display of schizophrenic tank/short sleeve shirt

*Per U.S. Fashion Code, this fine tripled due to presence of 2 or more offending items on the same person.
**Per U.S. Fashion Code, this fine doubled due to presence of exceptionally ugly tone per USFC 212.3 (mustard).
***Per U.S. Fashion Code, this fine doubled due to presence of contextually ugly tone present on decal per USFC 213.1 (gold).

Can we just talk about that chain-link schizo tank/short sleeve shirt thing for a moment? I believe she is trying to rip off the wide-yolked knit top concept here, except she was just a little off in her formula. Instead of using the time honored couture formula that says sexy = innuendo, she went with sexy= Jersey Shore streetwalker.

Tres Innovative, Kimora!

Now as far as I can tell, the wide-yolked shirt evolved from Flashdance, and is supposed to pseudo-unintentionally flash just a piece of brastrap or leotard or tanktop. Innuendo. It is not supposed to be held up by it– on both sides– as part of the same shirt! Can You say Jersey shore streetwalker chic?

And now for the rest of the citation… as you can see, the fines would be hefty. And plentiful.

In fact, I’m thinking, with Fabulosity alone, we could pay for the trillion dollar bailout! No really! Follow me here:

What if fashion police really existed, and we punished bad fashion like we currently punish, say, bad weed? (Rather approppo, I reckon, once you recall Kimora’s bust for posessing the ganja… which she promptly turned into bad fashion, forcing her models to walk the runway sporting t-shirts with her mugshot!)

Now who wouldnt pay to wear that on their chest?

Now who wouldn't pay to wear that on their chest?

But I digress. To recap: fashion is the ganja. Which makes Kimora the cartel (being responsible for cultivation and initial distribution). Translation: major fine and/or jail time. Of course, I doubt that we could convince the public to actually jail people for polluting our collective field of vision, so the fine will have to do. But please! Tie her design-tubes so she doesn’t give birth to any more of these monsters of fashion!

As the dealer distributor, JcPenney Stores would pay a reasonable fine as well.

Anyone caught posessing or disrespecting her body by using wearing this crap would receive yet a smaller fine. After all, we don’t want to fine the users too bad when what they really need is fashion rehab. Come on people… they are victims too. Okay, so they hurt society far more than they hurt themselves. But please, have some sympathy!

As long as we continue to idolize the unworthy, we will suffer the consequences of their unjust wealth. So if you spot some serious ugly/a fashion violation/evidence of monsters in the wake, do your part and speak up!

Remember… Only you can put these quasi-celeb fashion lines out of business!

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April 12, 2009 Posted by turnkeyredesign | Questionable Taste, satire | , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Public Service Time: gift-giving advice for men who want to get laid next year

Angels

HINT: if you follow their gift-giving advice, you’ll be needing to use this photo a whole lot next year. (Print, laminate and hide in bathroom!)

It’s practically Christmas, but I know most men haven’t yet found the inner resolve to undertake the most overwhelming of tasks: shopping for the wife/girlfriend.

Because it’s the season of giving and I’m nothing if not generous, I’d like to offer men and the women who love them a public service. Let’s call it chick-gifting 101.

For the guys out there, proper chick-gifting requires you to understand one key principle.

Now I realize that the following maxim is kind of like the warning label that says “this bag is not to be used as a flotation device”, obvious but sadly necessary.

Most of you men out there may find it a tad condescending. Still, if it saves just one man from disaster, it’s worth stating.

So here goes.

Men and women are different.

Men are into utility and problem-solving. To most of you straight men, no gift is as thoughtful as a gadget, tool, or the ever-popular and effortless gift-card to an electronics/home improvement store.

Women, however, generally want something personal and tasteful. Utility ranks a distant third.

So guys, unless she specifically asked for something from the electronics or appliances department, stay away.

Unless your new year’s resolution is involves never sleeping with her again.

But you knew this already, right?

You were planning on getting her something personal, fashionable and not cheap. You’re even planning to make your annual pilgrimage to the mall for her!

But before you do, you’d best be armed with the following knowledge.

What can I say, it’s the holidays and I’m here to help.

It’s a sad fact that where there are generous givers like yourself, there are unsavory scam artist-types, just waiting to take advantage your good intentions.

No, I’m not referring to Ms. Nabu Mshindi, third cousin to the Sultan of Nigeria, who will gladly give you a piece of her 50Million$US fortune if you kindly wire her the bank fees in advance.

I’m talking about scam artists who are much more shrewd; those who have perfected the art of flying beneath the radar while taking advantage of well-meaning but naive targets like you.

They refer to themselves as Ad Executives.

Being a man, you probably think yourself too wise to be had. But, I’m telling you, these evil-doers are shrewd.

They’ve even gone so far as to conduct covert ops in order to find out the way you think. They even have a nice-sounding term for it: market research.

Oreck
It seemed like a good idea at the time!

They know that as of right now, your mind is reeling with something like this:

Shit, I’ve got to get something suitable for my chick so I don’t have to worry about not getting laid. Let’s see, what would I want if I were her? Something useful and sweet, like a big-screen TV. Better not risk it though…after I gave her that super-high end vacuum last year, she cut off sex until March! Chicks! So impossible to figure out! Better play it safe and get her something feminine and classy, even if it means going to the mall. At least she’ll know I did something I hate doing to get the damned gift. That ought to be good for a few blow jobs.

Good intentions like these present the perfect opportunity for the aforementioned scam artists.

You want to get her something feminine and seemingly classy.

More likely than not, though, you have no idea what these adjectives actually mean to a woman.

All the scammer has to do is convince you that his product fits the bill.

They know how to get to you, invading your subconscious via your beloved big-screen TV. They litter the airwaves with ads during football; ads that show hot women receiving the most foreign of objects, lingerie and jewelry, and falling all over themselves with delight.

No matter that the products advertised are made in China for 1/100th of their retail price. Like a bad polyester wig, the products look authentic to the untrained eye but quickly fall apart when actually used.

Of course, you men never use these products yourselves– right?– so you’re likely to think that $250 at Victoria’s or Kay Jewelers was money well spent.

Until you see your woman’s expression on Christmas day.

Victoria’s real secret

Write it down: MUST NOT SHOP AT VICTORIA’S SECRET OR KAY JEWELERS. IGNORE HOT CHICKS IN ADS.

These companies are the absolute worst. They are practically modern snake-oil salesmen. They are purveyors of sub-quality crap.

The fact that VS makes the bulk of it’s revenue during the holiday season should tell you something: women never buy their crap for themselves. In fact, Target makes a higher-quality bra.

But it gets worse. There is a larger problem that comes from shopping at VS.

Buying a woman cheaply-made, badly-designed (read: uncomfortable) lingerie means you’ve just bought her something only good for use in the bedroom.

This makes it second only to the big-screen TV as the most self-serving of gifts a man can buy.

If you think your woman really was cool when you bought her something from Victoria’s Secret in the past, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say she has passive-aggressive tendencies. Or a room-temperature IQ.

Because just about any woman worth buying for sees the VS Christmas gift as a ploy.

And whether you realize it or not, upon receiving your gift, she may very well get mad enough to deny you sex.

How’s that for irony?

And how many relationships fall apart because of sex, or more precisely, lack thereof?

So please don’t fall into their traps. These evil scam artists break up families!

Only slightly less offensive are the scam artists working for Kay Jewelers. Still, their methods are equally shady.

Men know that women love jewelry. What they don’t know is why.

Women see jewelry as an expression of a man’s willingness to endure a sacrifice for the sake of their woman’s happiness. We don’t really want that 2.5-karat engagement ring so we can stare at it all day. After all, diamond jewelry, unlike costume jewelry, is worn not for fashion but for sentimental reasons. The real reason we want that pricey rock is because it tells us that our man thinks we are worth the $25K sacrifice he endured by purchasing it.

More importantly, it tells the world that we are worth it!

journey pendant
Nothing says “My man is poor… and has no taste” like these pebbles!

So when a man buys us something as tacky as Kay Jewelers’ “journey pendant”, which is nothing but small diamond scraps, it tells us, and more importantly the world, that our man thinks we are worth very little.

Add to that the fact that this same pendant can be bought at a jewelry mart in downtown LA for $50, and you’ll understand why no self-respecting woman would wear it regularly.

Which leads me to my next suggestion for all of you gift-challenged dudes: if you must buy jewelry, go downtown and buy the largest solitaire diamond earrings you can afford.

Hot studs
A better choice for your woman (and your libido)

Personally, I’m wearing a pair of 1/2K diamond earrings right now that cost about the price of that hideous journey pendant.

If jewelry isn’t in the cards for you, figure out what kind of perfume your woman wears and buy some. Or better yet, ask her girlfriends what the hot handbag is right now, and get it for her.

But please, do not buy the cheaper version with the slightly different label. It may be the same to you, but I promise, there is a big difference between Gucci and Cucci.

If you want the latter, better spring for the former.

Public Service Announcement complete.

Have a Merry Christmas, and a Vapid New Year!

Vapidly,

Jenna

December 20, 2007 Posted by turnkeyredesign | Popular Culture, advertising, advice, consumer psychology, holidays, media, men, rants, sex, shopping, women | , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments